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Welcome to my blog. I am honored to have you visit. I hope you'll find my articles a blessing. I welcome your input and especially comments and questions.

I write as a Christian from Jerusalem, Israel about Biblical subjects.

I am particularly interested in the subjects of children, families, women's issues, corporal punishment, science and nature as these subjects relate to the Holy Scriptures.

For more information, see my website: www.biblechild.com

With every good wish - Samuel Martin

Sunday, October 05, 2014

A Trip Down A River To The Source - Part Two

A Trip Down A River To The Source -
Part Two

"In an excellent article about
the nature of God written by Professor Trible in The Interpreters
Dictionary of the Bible (Supplemental volume) there is a survey of some
major sections of the Old Testament that indicate female features associated
with God. Prof. Trible comments:

'The Old Testament appropriates both andromorphic (man-form]
and gynomorphic [female-form] images to portray a God who relates to
human concerns. Though often neglected in Old Testament theology,
the female images are especially important for an expanding knowledge of
ways in

which the divine and the human meet'
(p. 365).

There are many Old Testament examples of the female image connected with
God. In Deuteronomy 32:18 God is called the "Rock that begat
thee" and the "God that formed thee [or that brought thee to
birth]." Prof. Trible shows that God has deep motherly
compassion.

"Can a woman forget her suckling child, that she should not have compassion
on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget
(Isaiah 49:15).

God is even given uterine qualities when we see his creation
of atmospheric phenomena that we observe over the earth. Such things
spring forth from God's "womb." Professor Trible says
that when the word "womb" is pluralized (Hebrew: רַח֖וּם), it takes on the meaning of mercy, compassion, like one
showing mother care. The bestowal of mercy and to be merciful
is "womb-like" (e.g. Exodus 34:6) and God is like the mother who
shows compassion on the child of her womb.

Feminine characteristics for God do not stop with his
"motherly care" over those who trust him, but feminine features
are even associated with God in a way that show power and creative authority. Long before the
heavens and the earth were formed, God had at his side a power that
was instrumental in bringing about the creation of the physical universe.
That authority was called "Wisdom" - and that force is
personified as a woman! Though the use of Wisdom in this fashion is
metaphorical, the instructive nature of its feminine qualities helps to
show that God was well aware of gender (male and female) long before a
particle of heaven and earth was brought into existence. Wisdom is made a personality
all on her own.

"Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets . . .
The Lord by Wisdom hath founded the earth . . . the Lord possessed
me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up
from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever earth was" (Prov. 1:20,
3:15, 18: 4:6 19 7:4. 8:22,23, etc.).

This personification of Wisdom as a woman shows her standing before
God and (in Hebrew) she even frolics, dances, and sports in God's
presence as a young woman would do in courtship.

"I {Wisdom} was by him [God], as one brought up with him: and I
was daily his delight, rejoicing [sporting] before
him; rejoicing [sporting] in the habitable part of the
earth" (Prov. 8:30,31).

Of course, this is symbolic language, but it exhibits a
feminine association with God before the creation of the heavens and the
earth. Interestingly, this biblical example shows that Wisdom was external
to God himself but she was still intrinsically interwoven with
his character and personality.

The personal relationship has
not diminished! Even Jesus saw Wisdom as feminine. "Wisdom is
justified of her children" (Matt. 11:19) (Ernest L. Martin, Will
Women Be Women In The Resurrection?" FBR: Pasadena,CA. 1980)

The above mentioned discussion by my late father is just touching the tip
of the iceberg. As we are showing here, there is nothing out of the
ordinary in discussing the feminine side of God. Many people (often male church
leaders) discourage such studies because they often challenge church traditions
and established dogmas which unfortunately contribute needlessly to the
disempowerment of women in the body of Christ.

Now, let's return to Isaiah 66 with all of this in mind because we are going to
look at another feminine theme introduced by the LORD in this text and it is a
subtle introduction which is not so apparent, but when you understand that we
are talking about nurture, sustenance and contextualize this to the natural
world/geo-cultural situation that Isaiah would have related to, you might be
able to see something much more maternal in this text than you may have
previously imagined.

So, what is this
important element in this seemingly maternally oriented text that I had not
appreciated before? It is the symbolism of the river! It is the imagery of the
overflowing stream! It is how water, rivers, streams and a type of physical
abundance that the sufficient presence of water connects to a child being taken
care of by its mom!

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About Me

Samuel Martin was born in England and is the youngest child of Dr. Ernest L. and Helen R. Martin, who are both Americans. He lived in the UK for the first 7 years of his life before moving to the USA with his family at age 7. He lived in the USA until 2001 when he married a native Israeli and relocated to live in Jerusalem. He and his wife, Sonia, have 2 daughters.
His experience with biblical scholarship began at an early age. His father initiated a program in conjunction with Hebrew Univ. and Prof. Benjamin Mazar, where over a 5 year period, some 450 college students came to work on an archaeological excavation in Jerusalem starting in 1969. Since that first trip, Samuel has visited Israel on 14 different occasions living more than 5 years of his life in the country. He has toured all areas of Israel as well as worked in several archaeological excavations.
Today, he has begun his academic career publishing 2 books dealing with biblical issues.
I write regularly on biblical subjects with a particular interest in children, families, nature, science and the Bible,and gender in the Biblical context.